BMW Turns Every Vehicle In New York Into An i3 And i8 (Video)

With a little slight of hand in New York, BMW has digitally transformed passing cars into all-electric BMW i3s and plug-in hybrid BMW i8s concept vehicles

BMW i3 And i8 Coming In 2013 and 2014 (Respectively)

BMW naturally calls the display at 42nd Street and 6th Avenue, across from Bryant Park in NYC, the BMW i Window.

The i Window, through the help of 3 cameras (that put out 80,000 lumens of brightness) and an intelligent car-tracking app, remap actual New York passenger vehicle traffic that pass by the window and convert them into BMW’s electric vision of the future. So the only reflection New Yorker’s see as they pass by, is that of the upcoming BMW i3 and i8.

Pretty neat.

BMW also keeps a running tally of how much gas would be saved should all the passing vehicles go “electric.” Through November 16th, $493,507,216.

Hmm, why didn’t they change the taxi cabs? They are all going to be NV200 or e-NV200 “Taxi of the Future” Nissans. Maybe they didn’t want to give any air time to another manufacture. Oh on top of that, when is BMW even going to start to produce these, and for that matter in any numbers?

Plus are they going to come with the turn signals deactivated at the factory as well as a spedo that is reads 20 MPH too slow like other BMWs? (you know just based on the behavior of other BMW drivers…)

OK, Yes BMW drivers are the worst. Yes, I know this is a large stereotype.
Stereotypes tend to appear as a result large numbers of evidence
that support that generalization.

BMW drilled their slogan into the heads of it’s customers – “THE ULTIMATE
DRIVING MACHINE”, for 31 years. In that time their sales went from
15,007 in 1974 to 266,200 in 2005. BMW no longer needs to push this
because the “damage” has been done. Car magazines tout the Bimmer
as the best due to the way the car performs when driven like an idiot.
Sure, take your Bimmer out to the track and thrash it all you wish…But
folks do not – instead they drive like numnuts on public roads…These are
people who’ve never done a lap on ANY track, yet they see you as
a competitor for that offramp or driving too slow on the curve
(when you’re already 10 over the limit). I often wonder why Porsche
drivers do not have this reputation. I’d rather drive nearly any Porsche
on a curvy mountain road or local racetrack than nearly ANY BMW…
But, as a whole, Porsche drivers seem sedate, and happy to obey
local traffic laws in a manner not to cause mayhem by zig-zagging
through rush hour.

I’d say anyone who studies advertising and it’s effects should study
BMW and it’s slogan. People pay a good sum to drive a BMW
and for that hefty sum they feel it’s their God-given right to
tear up any road no matter how little skill they have and
how crowded with “lowly everyday citizens driving other
marques of cars”…. 🙂

Let’s see if the revolution of the electric car turns this around.
Will BMW EV owners flash their headlights and tear around
mere average EV owners after tailgating them within inches
of their bumper? It’ll be interesting to watch. Tesla surely
will be known as the performance EV company for some
years running, so will BMW try to become the racecar EV
for the street? So far, their attempts don’t appear such.

It’s a clever gimmick. A whole lot of effort to promote
a BMW product that may just be a compliance, or
“green ID” halo.

BMW has shown some cool ideas, an electric bicycle
that folds, stores and charges from the i4’s trunk,
and other neat touches that may or may not make
this EV worth a premium price to some folks.
At any rate, nothing so far indicates to me that BMW
intends to sell the i’s in any large number.
I hope I am wrong. The more EVs and PHEVs the better!